The "Hero" Problem

Ok guys, you have been really helpful and a few characters are bubbling away in my mind now. I think before I was trying to have the "good" character when I could have dark heroes.

"There is no such thing as good and evil. Only power, and those too weak to seek it."

Thankyou for your help.

Maybe, make your main character the bad guy And then he slowly reforms =X

Sureal wrote:Take the Doctor Who series as an example of this: the Doctor is honest, honourable, loving, etc, etc. But he also has a quirky sense of humour and calm exteriour that remains with him even under intense pressure. (Well, apart from when lives other than his own are at risk.) And it is this unusal behaviour that makes him an endearing character.

That depends on the Doctor!!! Would that be... Tenth, you're thinking of?

But, yes, ditto what everyone else had said. Give your own flaws to your character. When I look at my main four (Fal, Kit, the Raven and Rohsair), I can see that they're a jumble of my own bad and good points all mixed up together with a few habits that are entirely their own. The more you think about your characters, the more they expand and become well-rounded and all.

Well Ive been working on a main character, outside of any plot or world for some time now. but I think his weaknesses are a little cliche.

He is obese. This is his major flaw, it rules out any epic journey without some kind of invalidity. I think that magic in a newer story will have a lot to do with hand motions and gesture. This will also make conjuring difficult for him (if he is to have magic).

The second is Greed. He is tremendously greedy for more than he has. Gluttonous with power and food. Im hoping this will make his descent into guilt so much more brutal.

Ive got a plot forming around him, Im unsure of the world as of yet but Im thinking a post 1900 type world. Im thinking of placing him as an assistant to someone much better than him in all aspects and eventually, early on in the novel he murders him, thus he becomes a usurper to his Master's political standing. Of course, he has no idea how to run a city/country/empire/state so quickly faces rebellion internally. Then, outward states exploit his weaknesses, sending assassins into his midst.

He has this inner conflict - the namesake of leader conflicting with his own life. Afraid, he leaves his position and state and flees with his own assistant to the border.

That is basically the lead up to the main sequence of events.

Thoughts guys?

I am writing from my PDA, so I'll elaborate more on this later, but for now.

Think about what really drives a hero. What could possibly make someone want to risk life and limb to defeat evil?

I say, give your hero depth, make them real. They have emotions, don't they? Bring out the emotions. You can do this by threatening someone close to your character, have them be stressed by their journey, something like that. Heroes are harder to make real than vilains, I find that I have this problem myself. Just describe how they feel and give them life.